Search - Olivia Newton-John :: (2): Duets

Duets for none.

bobby morrow | United Kingdom | 08/27/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I've never liked this album! I feel it's one of Olivia's worst ever releases, in fact. However, I recently gave the album another spin after a years rest to see if time had helped any.



It hasn't.



Olivia, what were you thinking? How long we've waited for a duets album from you and you give us this?! At the time, Olivia was quoted as saying that by recording an album with (mainly) Australian based artists was her way of helping bring them to a wider audience. Well, the poor deluded thing clearly hasn't been checking her own record sales lately as she's in no position to help anyone!



(2) has many problems. The unfamiliarity of these participants to most of the world is no surprise given their performances on this set. Jimmy Little? Johnny O' Keefe? Human Nature? David Campbell? Former Savage Garden front man Darren Hayes turns up on one of the album's better tracks, 'Lift Me Up' and country superstar Keith Urban goes through the motions on the totally dreadful 'Sunburned Country' Don't you just love homages to Australia from singers who've dumped their homeland as soon as America beckons?!



Tina Arena, actually a really good singer, kind of a stronger voiced ONJ, unwisely shows up on Diane Warren's horribly irritating 'I'll Come Runnin'' Arena gives a good performance and Olivia squeaks along doing her best not to be completely drowned out. Billy Thorpe growls his way through 'Bad About You' an obvious reject from the sessions for Olivia's 1998 'Back With A Heart' album. It's a nasty, unimaginitive rocker with appalling lyrics that should have been given the boot from this album, too.



Diane Warren contibutes once more with 'I Will Be Right Here', a startlingly dull by-the-numbers ballad that Olivia simpers her way through with David Campbell. It seems Olivia is obsessed with male singers with higher-pitched voices than her own. Mr Campbell, Hayes and the 'guys' from Human Nature make Olivia sound like Barry White by comparison. Actually, the Human Nature collab, 'I Love You Crazy' is a decent pop song. Sadly, Olivia is at least 30 years too old to be singing it. Tiffany would have done a great job, though.



Deary me, I almost forgot the American acts. Bouffant-haired, 80's whiner Richard Marx hits rock bottom with 'Never Far (enough) Away', a 'tune' he actually admits to writing. It's nearly five minutes of melody-free whimpering from O and Marx. The latter should really get his sinuses checked out. Was he always this nasal?



Speaking of 'unusual' voices, woeful Michael McDonald slurs his way through the shockingly bad 'Act Of Faith', a co-write with ONJ and surely one of the worst songs in her entire back catalogue. Words simply can't descibe the awfulness of the song with it's tedious, looping so-called melody and nonsensical lyrics. Olivia wisely keeps herself deep in the mix leaving McDonald to shoulder the blame.



Just when you can't take anymore comes a 'bonus' track. Olivia's bossa nova (solo) take on her 1981 smash 'Physical' If you ever liked the song, try and bypass this version which has poor Olivia squealing and breathing 'seductively' happily ruining one of her biggest hits. It's vile.



Oddly, Olivia's dreams for (2) never materialized, as the album was never released outside of Australia though it was a hit there selling almost 60 copies and going triple platinum.



A year or so later, Olivia claimed to be planning another Aussie themed collaboration after the 'success' of (2) proving ,perhaps, that she's not always the Goody Two Shoes she's perceived as this points to a spiteful, malicious streak I've rarely seen in the Goddess Of Aus.



So, we're still waiting for (2) Two. Long may it continue."

A great late-career surprise

Darren Stuart | Howey-in-the-Hills, FL United States | 09/30/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I had put off getting this because of the import price, and since I wasn't too fond of the "Indigo Women of Song" disc, it wasn't a priority. But on a recent trip to NYC I found a copy at Virgin for $7.99, so I tried it. Wow! I was delighted at the unpredictable guests - a nice mix of familiar names and new voices to discover - and the generally positive vibe in the lyrics and performances. I love the Tina Arena duet very much, it's great to hear Tina again since she has faded from American view of late.



But the peak of the album for me is the haunting treatment of Peter Allen's "Tenterfield Saddler," where Olivia revamps and adds her vocals to Allen's original. This is a deeply affecting song of the generation gap, personal priorities and the paths we take - made all the more poignant when you realize that the grandson in the third verse is Allen himself (Allen's real name is Peter Allen Woolnough and he came from Tenterfield). I wonder what Liza thought of the line "he married a girl with an interesting face"!!



A lovely collection. Try it!"

Starts of great, then falls...

C.B. Radley | Houston, TX | 03/24/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I actually give this cd a total of 3 1/2 stars, but since you can't do halves, I'm rounding it to four.

Now for my review...

I just purchased this cd and gave it a listen. I love Olivia, but wasn't quite sure if I wanted an album of duets. Then I realized Darren Hayes was on it so I had to get it.

Here are my thoughts on each song. I'm rating them from 1-10, 10 of course being the best.

1. Sunburned Country - This is a great country/rock song with Keith Urban. Great start for this record. Really enjoyed this one. 8/10.

2. Lift Me Up - Two angel voices on one song?!?! It's always so wonderful to hear Darren's voice. This isn't the strongest song he's ever done, but it's still nice. 7/10.

3. I'll Come Runnin' - Nice little pop song. I'm not familiar with Tina Arena, but she sounds good to me. 7/10.

4. Tenderfield Saddler - This song didn't do too much for me. I assume it's supposed to be some kind of Australian folk song. Didn't quite dig it. 4/10.

5. I'll Be Right Here - Very nice ballad, perfect for Olivia. Not familiar with this male singer either, but nice combo. 7/10.

6. Love You Crazy - Another nice song. I'm assuming Human Nature is a boy band. No offense to Olivia, but I think this should have just been their song. I think they could have done more with it. It's almost like they were afraid to put themselves into it and wanted it to be more of an Olivia song. 7/10.

7. Bad About You - I dig this one. Very catchy. At first was thinking maybe it was a little too rough of a song for Olivia (might have been better for a country singer with a stronger voice rather than a light one like Liv's), but she surprised me at the end. 8/10

8. I'm Counting On You - What is this?? This one confuses me. Is it an old song that she just added her voice to? By itself it probably was a decent little ditty. But I don't much like this duet at all. 3/10.

9. Never Far Away - Wow did they ever miss a great opportunity with this one! This is with Richard Marx, another great voice. But this song is BORING! What a let-down. 4/10.

10. Happy Day - Don't really like this one either. I almost skipped to the next song halfway through. This song is boring, I don't like this guy's voice and he even sounds bored singing it! I'll give it a couple points only cause the chorus is a tiny bit catchy and Olivia giggles at the end. 3/10.

11. Act of Faith - A decent last song with Michael McDonald. What's funny about this song is that it automatically started sounding familiar to me. Maybe that's because Michael McDonald has pretty much sung with everyone! This isn't a great song, but not bad either. Definitely typical MM, probably could have been one of his singles in the 80s. 6.5/10

Then after this song is a bonus "jazzy" version of Physical. Kinda cute, but I don't really like when she goes up really high. That's a bit annoying. But still a classic no matter how it's arranged. 7/10.

This is really an album for die-hard Olivia fans or fans of any of the artists she duets with. But maybe not for everyone."